


Catra Can Have a Little Coup, as a Treat

by EmperorNorton150



Series: Catra's Coup [1]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Catra (She-Ra)-centric, Catra should be in charge of things, Catra takes over the Horde, I love coups, Not Canon Compliant, it's a coup
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:47:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24898687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmperorNorton150/pseuds/EmperorNorton150
Summary: This was the day she’d been waiting for her whole life. She had dreamed of this day since she was a baby, though in her childhood fantasies…. she hadn’t been alone. For two years now, she’d been actively planning; manipulating superiors to open up the ranks to her supporters, scheming, plotting, stockpiling munitions and supplies, drawing up plans, bribing, borrowing, browbeating,begging; winning battles to gain approval from Hordak, losing battles to place her troops in advantageous positions. For months now, as things had finally come together, she’d smiled and saluted that old fool in his laboratory, her heart hammering behind her teeth as she counted down the days until the last troops would be in position. She hadn’t slept at all last night, tossing and turning, a sick burning in her stomach as she counted down the hours until it was to begin. But when she had finally given the order, she had felt centered as never before. Now she walked through the burning Fright Zone like she was walking on air, screams and sirens echoing around her, a beacon of serenity in an ocean of chaos.
Relationships: Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Catra & Hordak (She-Ra)
Series: Catra's Coup [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1805098
Comments: 11
Kudos: 79





	Catra Can Have a Little Coup, as a Treat

Hordak didn’t even notice the first rumble that shook the floor of his inner sanctum. The Fright Zone was not the most…. structurally sound place in Etheria. It shook and hummed and grumbled late at night; he had learned to ignore it years ago. And he couldn’t afford to be distracted now. He was close. Closer than he had ever been before. He leaned over his workbench, fully engrossed in the minutiae of the power-lines he was connecting into the glowing crystalline core his minions had recovered from the Crimson Waste. He was so close he could _taste it_.

The next explosion caused the lights to flicker, the tools on his table to jump, and dust to explode from the corners. The leader of the Etherian Horde frowned, his ears flickering in displeasure. Then his eyes widened as he heard energy weapons begin to fire. He slammed his fist down on his communicator.

“Force Captain Catra! Report! What in—” there was static. Hordak growled, and slammed another button.

“Force Captain Scorpia! I demand you answer me!” Nothing but static again. Hordak felt something trickle through his guts, something that someone else might have called fear. He tapped the communicator almost gently this time, as the shriek of jet engines hammered by overhead, mixing with the rest of the cacophony.

“Entrapa? Are you…..are you there?” Static flickered across the screen, and then it abruptly stabilized into a fuzzy picture of the tentacled face of Force Captain Octavia.

“WHAT IS GOING ON?” roared Hordak. Octavia stared at him for half a moment, her one eye wide, and Hordak realized that her blue skin was almost white with shock.

“Sir….” She finally stuttered. “Sir, I think….I think it’s a _coup_ ”.

* * *

Catra has always thought that when the day finally came, she’d be on edge. After all, she was _always_ on edge. As long as she could remember, she’d been a bundle of fear and anger and anxiety, a churning mess of emotions that she couldn’t understand or cope with. But today she was calm. This was the day she’d been waiting for her whole life. She had dreamed of this day since she was a baby, though in her childhood fantasies…. she hadn’t been alone. For two years now, she’d been actively planning; manipulating superiors to open up the ranks to her supporters, scheming, plotting, stockpiling munitions and supplies, drawing up plans, bribing, borrowing, browbeating, _begging_ ; winning battles to gain approval from Hordak, losing battles to place her troops in advantageous positions. For months now, as things had finally come together, she’d smiled and saluted that old fool in his laboratory, her heart hammering behind her teeth as she counted down the days until the last troops would be in position. She hadn’t slept at all last night, tossing and turning, a sick burning in her stomach as she counted down the hours until it was to begin. But when she had finally given the order, she had felt centered as never before. Now she walked through the burning Fright Zone like she was walking on air, screams and sirens echoing around her, a beacon of serenity in an ocean of chaos.

_Is this what Adora feels like all the time?_ she marveled, and for once, she could almost think the name without a spasm of rage and hate and sadness. After all, today was the day she would win. She floated down the corridor, her handfast men flanking her on each side as she approached the door to the control center. She ripped it open, and glided inside, panicked voices spilling out.

“Sir, the entire sensor grid is offline! I can’t access it!”

“Barracks E and H are under attack sir! They say it’s by our own men!”

“Our communications are being jammed!”

“I’ve lost contact with the eastern perimeter defenses!”

“Who ordered that deployment? _I didn’t order that deployment!_ ” The command sergeant glanced up, saw her, and realization flared in his eyes. He opened his mouth to give an order, and Catra cuffed him to the ground almost casually, kicking him in his stomach as he fell. The room froze, technicians staring at her wide-eyed as her bodyguards swarmed in. Catra raised an eyebrow.

“ _Well?_ ” One of the, perhaps a little smarter than the rest, got it first. He dropped to his knees, holding out a clenched fist.

“Hail Catra! Leader of the Horde!” His fellows followed, a ragged chorus. “Hail Catra! Leader of the Horde!” She purred.

“Good boys.” She strolled to the nearest console and logged into the communications array, tapping in a code. “Force Captain Lonnie! Report”. The girl’s smirking face flickered into being on the screen, and she sketched a quick salute. Behind her, scores of Horde personnel stood or sat with the hands clasped behind their heads, held under the aim of a dozen men and women clad in Horde armor marked with a red cat’s claw swiftly painted on the chest plate.

“Armory and vehicle pool secure boss! Tanks are rolling out now!” There was a roar of engines as reality confirmed her words, and a convoy of armored vehicles began to glide out of the garage. Catra grinned, the two women exchanging a rare smile.

“Keep moving! Cut the coast road and take control of the forges! Do _not_ slow down, understand? And…...good work.” It had taken Catra an embarrassingly long time to realize that she could not rule by fear alone. That was Hordak’s mistake. What had Scorpia called it? Ah, yes, ‘positive reinforcement’. Lonnie rolled her eyes, but saluted again.

“Catra, I didn’t forget the plan! We’ll get right on it." Usually that type of insubordination would enrage Catra. Today, she barely noticed, as reports and communiques flowed in from her subordinates. All around her, Hordak’s empire crumbled. Her troops had struck fast and hard, and they already held the main armories, the training grounds, and the Hall of Horrors. Her lieutenants in the Northern Outposts and the Crimson Waste had seized control of their districts hours ago. Yesterday she’d thrown a major force of bots into an attack on Erlandia and Elberon, by the time the Princess Alliance finished dealing with that it would be too late for them to take advantage of the chaos. She’d only been able to suborn maybe a third of the Force Captains, but most of the holdouts were cowards. With Catra’s star in ascendance, they would hide in their barracks and hope to cut a deal once the shooting was over. Octavia’s sailors in Octopus Cove would stay loyal to the old fool, but with any luck…she tapped the console again. Overhead, two of Entrapa’s drones screamed by, targeting automated weapons emplacement with bursts of fire.

“Entrapa! Report!”

“I’ve jammed all outside communications, just like you asked! It was really a rather fascinating experiment, did you know that…” the voice ripped through the speakers like a buzz saw, but right now Catra would forgive the crazy princess anything. She absent-mindedly agreed with whatever the purple-haired lunatic was shouting about as she punched in codes for the main defensive batteries to go offline and lock down until further notice. “Oh, Catra? Does Hordak know about all this?” Catra stared down at the communicator, dumbfounded for a moment.

“We’re overthrowing him…...remember?” she finally choked out.

“OH YEAH! Great! Anyways, got to go!” Catra shook her head. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered today. One more time, she tapped a code into her pad.

“Force Captain Scorpia! Report!”

“Hi Catra! How are you? Things are good here, we…whoops!” Something very large exploded in the background. “We have things under control! Mostly!” Shock-sticks were zapping, and automatic weapons-fire was clattering. “Boy golly, Hordak has a lot of bots.” Catra ground her teeth. _Calm_. _Serenity_. _Victory_. _Peace_.

“Scorpia, please report your status!”

“We have the, ummm, the whatchamacallit, the antechamber place but Octavia’s not letting us into the sanctum. Hi Octavia! Oh, never mind, she’s mad at us, I forgot. Anyways, there sure are a lot of bots here!” Something else exploded, and Catra caught a glimpse of a dozen of her men flung back by some enormous force. She hissed. Typical. She would have to finish this herself.

“Hold position. I’m on my way”.

* * *

Catra had always hated Octavia, but even she would admit that the admiral had guts and brains to spare. She and her handpicked team of loyalists had reacted far more quickly, than she'd anticipated, seizing the main approaches to the Inner Sanctum before Scorpia’s troops had gotten in position, and digging in behind a barricade of discarded laboratory equipment. They fought bitterly until they were overwhelmed and subdued by superior numbers, Catra’s troops fighting their way to the gates of the inner sanctum foot by bloody foot. Hordak’s bots fought with less spirit, but equal skill, until the rebels had smashed or broken the last one. Catra stood in the front ranks, dancing back and forth, clawing and slashing, her limbs shattering armor and weapons, lacerating skin, tearing weapons out of their owner’s grasp. Not all of her men liked Catra. Heck, most of them were _terrified_ of her. But in the last three years, she had taken to the field and fought against the best the Princess Alliance could offer again and again. She had earned their trust, and their respect. Then it was time. From all across Hordak’s Empire, her men were reporting stories of victory, of fortresses and outposts seized, of Force Captains surrendering, of confused counterattacks collapsing, of officers rushing to swear allegiance to the new regime. Hordak had ruled here for two generations, she— _she! Catra! The rejected one!_ —had ended his reign in a single day. Everywhere, her name was on people’s lips, on the communication channels, on the breeze. _Hail Catra! Leader of the Horde!_ Now all that was left was to finish it. Catra nodded to Rogelio.

“Blow the door”. He let out a growl, and triggered the explosives they’d fixed to the portal into Hordak’s Sanctum.

Catra moved like the wind, riding the shockwave as the bombs ripped the titanium doors into shreds, twisting in mid-air to avoid the hail of laser-fire she knew was coming. Nothing. She dropped to the ground, and rolled, ears flickering, tail bristling, and she came to crouching halt near the throne, her claws extended and ready for battle. Nothing. Hordak stood by the far wall, next to some mechanical monstrosity, perfectly still except for a slight tremor running through his limbs. He hissed.

“You……traitor…..” Catra threw back her head and laughed.

“It’s not treason if you win, old man. You failed. You failed, and the Horde admires strength. Now, why don’t you surrender quietly? I win.” Something flared, deep in his eyes, and Catra’s ears dipped, as she instinctively took a step back.

“No” he snarled. “You…. _lose_ ”. His hand spasmed on a lever that Catra had never seen before, and then the wall exploded. There was a popping sound, and then everything happened at once.

A bubble of purple light, hissing and sparking—

Hordak leaping through—

The bubble twisting, shattering, waves of energy flaring off of it—

Catra leaping forward, acting totally on instinct, her claws ripping the lever out of the floor—

Energy roaring, screaming, flaring, and the roof of the chamber vanishing in a tower of fire—

And then silence.

Catra stood in the ashes of Hordak’s sanctum, breathing deeply, her claws slashing in and out. Scorpia broke the silence first, peering around the corner.

“Is he…..y’know…. _dead_?”

“I….don’t—”

“He probably just went to join his brother!” Entrapa dropped out of the ventilation shaft, already making a beeline for the shattered remnants of the machine. Catra blinked.

“His brother?”

“His brother in space!”

“….”

“His brother in space who rules the known universe!”

“…..”

“His clone brother in space who rules the known universe and wants to conquer Etheria?”

If it had been any other day, Catra would have lost it. But it was _today_. The day of her triumph. The day where she had finally won. So instead of screaming, or shouting, or clawing Entrapa’s face off, she walked forward and placed her hand on the princess’s shoulder.

“Entrapa…..please explain”.

* * *

Bow shot down the first four drones on instinct, knocking them out of the sky over Bright Moon with his arrows as they curved in from the Fright Zone. The fifth dodged, sliding underneath his arrows and diving towards the castle ground, where it crashed into the flower beds. A dozen guards converged, spears outstretched, as the little machine let out a hiss of steam, warbled “STOP! LISTEN! PEACE!” in a voice that sounded a lot like Entrapa’s, and then fired a data chip into the air, where it slapped into Adora’s face as she leapt from a second-floor window, sword in hand, ready to defend her homeland.

It took over an hour for Bow to assure himself that the chip really had nothing on it but a message, by which point Queen Angella had assembled the leadership of the Princess Alliance in the War Room. They were ready to face this new danger, whatever it was. Whatever threats Hordak wanted to make, whatever he wanted to rail at them about, whatever message he wanted them to hear, they would be ready to face it down and save the planet from evil once again. They weren’t ready for it.

“Well, here it goes” muttered Bow, sliding it into the War Room’s projector. It buzzed, and then a hologram appeared above the table. Adora gasped, dropping the ice-pack she’d been pressing to her bruised face. Catra lounged in a throne, clad in a red and gold uniform resplendent with braid and epaulets. A white cloak was fastened at her throat and a golden headband rested on her forehead. Entrapa stood to her left, Scorpia to her right. Catra smiled, not her usual smirk, but something almost…. regal? She nodded.

“Greetings, Queen Angella of Bright Moon and leaders of the Princess Alliance. My name is Catra, Generalissimo of the Horde and Protector of the Kingdom of Scorpions and the Kingdom of Dryll. I write to you in hopes to inaugurating a new era between our respective nations…...an era of peace”.

“WHAT” shouted Adora and Glimmer simultaneously, while Bow tried to shush them. The hologram kept saying impossible words.

“The previous regime in the Fright Zone has pursued a policy of untrammeled aggression against our neighbors that I have no wish to continue. It is my _fondest_ wish that our two nations sign a general armistice and permanent treaty of peace and mutual friendship, ending this endless, foolish war at long last”. Catra shook her head sadly, seemingly at the waste of it all. “As a gesture of good will, I will be withdrawing all Horde forces from territories claimed by your various kingdoms. We will defend our own sovereignty, but we have no wish to infringe upon your own. Please, respond as soon as you are able, and I hope to begin direct negotiations with your representatives. In the name of the Horde!”

“It’s a trick!”

“Obviously a trap. _Obviously_!”

“Does this child take me for a fool?”

“As _if_ we’d be so stupid!”

“What do you think that _thing_ is really planning?”

“Lure us into a false sense of security, then crush us—”

“Do you think Hordak’s really…..gone? I mean….”

“IT’S A TRICK!”

“But what if it’s not?” Adora spoke quietly, almost whispering, but her voice still cut through the hubbub. Everyone stared, and she scrunched down her shoulders as a dozen wide eyes turned to her. “I mean, I know, I know, it’s _Catra_ , but……she’s offering to negotiate…..even if it’s a trap, can we really refuse to even consider it?” She looked at her friends, pleading. “If we don’t take this up, if it turns out to be genuine, all the blood will be on our hands. _My_ hands.”

“Adora…..” Glimmer reached over and touched her shoulder. “Do you really……do you really think Catra is capable of something like this?”

“I don’t know! I don’t know anything about her anymore. Once I would’ve said she was incapable of trying to kill me, but here we are. I just can’t stand to ignore a chance like this. _Please_.” 

* * *

Here is a secret that Catra will never tell.

Sometimes, she likes paperwork. Not the actual fiddly bits, the filling out of enumerable forms and documents, the lists and spreadsheets and graphs and accounts. She usually makes Scorpia or Lonnie handle those anyways, while she paces back and forth, or crouches on top of her desk, or bounces off the walls of her office, dictating her responses to whichever one of her beleaguered subordinates had drawn the short straw that day. But she liked what it represented.

_Power. Responsibility. Control. Order._

Everything in the Horde and its territories filtered up to her eventually. Brigandry in the Crimson Waste continuing despite their best efforts, shortages of equipment in the mines in the Mountains of Darkness, complaints from Octopus Cove about ration shortages, promotions and demotions for conduct during the recent unpleasantries ( _did you think I wouldn’t notice you trying to play both sides Force Captain Archos? Try Sergeant Archos on for size_ ) pardons of political prisoners, detention orders for new prisoners, construction on the road she was having built to Castle Dryll, disciplinary hearings, requests for more energy from Entrapta, reports on the new foundries being built in the Eastern Hills, plans for the restoration of Horror Hall (her gift to Scorpia, though she’d never admit it), preliminary studies on reorganizing the Horde’s chain of command……..sometimes, she could almost _see_ it, a web of connections flowing from her desk out down the hallways of the Fright Zone and out across the rest of the Horde. It was like when she had first looked at Shadow Weaver and seen not a force of nature, an inexorable will that could destroy her on a whim but rather an interlocking network of pieces; pressure points she could push on, weak threads she could unravel, blind spots she could hide in while she did her work. That was the first time she’d realized she had a power not everyone else did. She could reach out and change the world, manipulating people, influencing events, imposing her will on the world instead of hiding from it.

But this was even better. Tens of thousands of people were part of this network, all tied into her decisions. Their future, their livelihoods, their success—all _depended_ on her. It was……nice to be depended on. It felt good. It didn’t feel as good as being loved, but it was better than hatred—or at least it made the hatred less strong, less corrosive. It had given her a Purpose, something to hold onto in the depths of the night when she felt her soul flying apart. _People needed her_. She didn’t think that little gnawing pit of rage in her heart would ever go away, but sitting in her throne or at her desk, feeling the _pulse_ of the Horde flowing through her hands…...it doesn’t hurt as much. 

* * *

Slowly, cautiously, the Best Friend Squad crept out of the Whispering Woods, pacing towards the massive pavilion that had been erected. A full battalion of Bright Moon’s finest troops lay ready just a few leagues behind them, led by Netossa, and poised to spring into action at the slightest signal. But the Horde sentry outside the tent just saluted them.

“Right this way Your Highness, ma’am, sir, follow me” he led them through the entrance-way. “Your Excellency! Envoys from Bright Moon!” Inside was a simple wooden table, with three chairs on either side. Facing them stood the same trio from the impossible message that had sparked this insane encounter. Adora’s hand tightened on her sword hilt as Catra, still wearing that ridiculous outfit, stood. But she just smiled, and bowed.

“Welcome my friends! I am so glad that we can finally meet across the negotiating table and not the battlefield. Will you please take a seat?” Bow gulped.

“We would be, uhhh, honored, uhhhh, ma’am, or, uhh, Your Excellency—”

“Stop that!” snapped Adora. Catra frowned slightly.

“Stop what?”

“Talking so…..fancy!” Catra smiled again, but this time something closer to her old, familiar smirk.

“You’re angry because I’m being polite? Doesn’t that seem a little ridiculous?”

“You’re ridiculous!”

“ALL RIGHT!” Glimmer interrupted, plopping down and glowering across the table. “Let’s get this charade over with. What do you _really_ want Catra?” Catra shrugged, and returned to her seat.

“I think I was relatively clear. I’d like to formalize our current cease-fire, sign a peace treaty, end this war with concurrent diplomatic recognition.” She paused, then continued. “Eventually I’d like to open up the question of trade, but that can wait until we’ve reached a final settlement to the war.”

“Trade?” Glimmer asked, after a stunned moment.

“Why not? The Fright Zone is perennially short of agricultural products, but we have a surplus of various minerals and raw materials that could be useful….” She trailed off, noting the three staring envoys, and something twisted in her face. Her tail lashed.

“I’m not _stupid_ you know!” Scorpia patted her shoulder.

“Of course you’re not!” she glared across the table for a moment. “Hi! I’m Force General Scorpia! Catra promoted me, isn’t that nice? It’s good to finally, like, meet you guys!”

“Nice to meet you too….” muttered Bow. Glimmer shook her head.

“We’re avoiding the problem. How can we trust anything you say? Hordak may be gone, but you’re still a tyrant. Nothing has really changed, has it?” Catra cocked her head.

“Aren’t you the heir to a hereditary monarchy?”

“That’s different!”

“Of…..course it is.”

“My mother is _not_ a tyrant!”

“Well, neither am I. I’m a benevolent autocrat.”

“What does that even _mean_?”

“Look it up if you’re so smart” Glimmer let out a wordless shriek, and Catra grinned, before sighing.

“Look sparkles, even if I wanted to kill you people, _and I don’t_ , we have bigger problems. Entrapta! Tell them what happened to Hordak”. Entrapta looked up from the communications pad she’d been fiddling with since the start of the meeting.

“Oh! Hey guys! Did you know that Hordak was the clone of a different Hordak who rules the universe and has an army of Hordaks and an unstoppable fleet of warships and, probably, unimaginable technology of a kind we’ve never even imagined, highly advanced, highly sophisticated—” Catra snapped her fingers. “Oh! Yes, and Hordak escaped through what looked like a highly unstable portal and he’s probably gone to try and find his brother Hordak and then come and destroy us all.” Catra looked at the Best Friend Squad, and for the first time since the start of the meeting, the mocking glint was gone from her eyes.

“If what she says is true, we don’t have time to keep fighting each other. I’ve worked long and I’ve worked hard to get where I am today, and I _don’t_ intend to lose it to some knockoff Hordak!” Glimmer frowned.

“I still don’t see why we should trust—” Adora stood up.

“Everybody out.”

“Adora!”

“Everybody except Catra. Please, I need to speak to her alone.”

* * *

There was a great deal of grumbling and complaining, but eventually the other four participants exited the tent, Bow shooting a worried glance over his shoulder, Scorpia trying to chat about color coordination with Glimmer, who was muttering something unflattering under her breath. Catra leaned back in her chair, her tail lashing back and forth. 

“Well. What is it?” Adora stared at her.

“What’s really going on here?”

“Oh, what, you just assume it’s somehow about you?”

“Yes”. Catra froze for a second, then grinned, her claws digging into the tabletop.

“I won. I _beat_ you. I finally beat you! You didn’t think I could but I did. You _never_ thought I could, but I did!” Adora stared.

“I….what?” Catra leapt up, tail lashing back and forth, ears cocked, as she paced around the room.

“You didn’t think I could take over the Horde without your help! You never believed in me, you never thought I was as good as you, but I did it! You didn’t even think I could become Force Captain, but I did! And then, and then when you abandoned me, you decided that you had to save the world from Hordak. Well, I did _that_ too! I brought peace to Etheria! She-Ra couldn’t do that! I did! I _won_!” Adora blinked, taken aback by the intensity.

“It wasn’t a competition…”

“Sure it was!” Catra jabbed a claw at Adora accusingly. “You thought that if you left I’d have to come crawling after you. You thought I’d be totally lost without you, that there was nothing I could do!”

“It wasn’t like that!”

“You didn’t think I could survive on my own! But I did! I won! And now I’m going to end this war that _you couldn’t_!” Adora stared, as Catra hyperventilated.

“Catra…..are you saying you spent three years fighting a war against us and then _took over_ _the Horde_ ……just to get back at me?”

“No!” her ears flicked. “……maybe a little bit”.

“Catra, you’re insane.” She shrugged, plopped up on the table.

“Well, yeah, I figured that out a while ago”. The two girls stared at each other for a moment, and then both burst into laughter, a bubble of highly inappropriate giggles that raced through the room and made Glimmer, pacing up and down outside, jump in surprise. Adora leaned against the tent all, almost brough the pavilion crashing down, and then settled herself against a pole.

“Do you really want to rule the Horde? I thought you just wanted to kill me now.” The Generalissimo of the Horde and Protector of the Kingdom of Scorpions and the Kingdom of Dryll looked down and flushed.

“I do. I’m good at it, I’m good at……power, at controlling things. I’ve never been good at anything before. And I didn’t want to kill you! I wanted to beat you! And now I have. So I don’t have to kill you anymore.” Adora rolled her eyes.

“You know what…..never mind. Not even gonna question that.” A moment of silence. Outside, birds were singing in the Whispering Woods, and Entrapta and Bow were arguing about something.

“Were you telling the truth about Hordak?”

“Yeah. I don’t really understand it but……that crazy princess knows what she’s talking about. If she says this other Hordak is a threat, I believe her.”

“A threat to _your_ empire.”

“Sure. And to your stupid kingdom. And your dumb friends. Look, Adora, I’m not asking you to like me. I still hate _you_!” she spat with sudden vehemence. “I’m asking you to agree to stop trying to kill each other while we figure out how to stop this maniac. Is that so much to ask?” 

“I mean…..when you put it that way…” there was another awkward silence. “Do you really think we can work together again?” Catra shrugged.

“We can try. But as equals this time. Not as your sidekick anymore!”

“Catra you were never….! Fine, whatever. We can……try. I guess.”

Two hands met over the table—and shook.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> \- This is essentially how I was hoping for the show to end as of season two. I think the actual way they ended was better lol, but I still wanted to write it out. 
> 
> \- The fact that Catra is driven into evil by heartbreak and rage but turns out to be a truly excellent general and commander is one of the most interesting aspects of her character I think, and I wanted to explore the idea of her totally committing herself to her ambitions instead of falling apart. 
> 
> \- If it's not clear from the text, the point where this diverges from canon is that Shadow Weaver either doesn't escape or wanders off somewhere or whatever, but doesn't team up with Adora.


End file.
